The subject matter herein generally relates to plugs for electrical connectors and, more particularly, to an electrical connector plug having an actuator for operating a latch that secures the plug to a mating receptacle.
Various types of plugs have been proposed for electrical connectors such as external mini-SAS connectors. The plugs are inserted into corresponding receptacles to communicate data. Existing plugs include a mating end that is plugged into the receptacle and hooks that fit into holes in the receptacle to securely hold the plug in the receptacle. The plug is unlatched from the receptacle by raising the hooks out of the holes in the receptacle and removing the plug.
Existing plugs are configured to raise and lower the hooks of the plugs, relative to the receptacles, by actuating a tab or other handle on the plug. The hooks in some plugs are raised when the handle is pushed (referred to as “push-only plugs”).
The hooks in other plugs are raised when the handle is pulled (referred to as “pull-only plugs”). As a result, a user of the plugs cannot switch between pushing and pulling the handles of the plugs to latch the hooks.
The inability of existing plugs to permit unlatching the plugs with corresponding receptacles by only pushing or pulling the plug's handle (but not both) can make it difficult to use the plugs in certain spaces. For example, the location of certain receptacles can make grasping and pulling the handle of a plug to unlatch the latch with the receptacle very difficult. The opposite situation may also be true—certain locations of a receptacle can make it difficult to push a plug's handle to unlatch the plug with the receptacle. In these situations, only one of the push-type or pull-type plugs may be used and the other type of plug may be too difficult to use. As a result, many plugs become too difficult to use in certain spaces.
Thus, a need exists for a plug for an electrical connector that provides the option of disengaging the plug with a receptacle by both pushing and pulling a handle or tab of the plug. That is, a need exists for a plug that is interchangeable as both a pull-type and a push-type plug.